CoG: Boundary of Dragon
by NorthSouthGorem
Summary: After the defeat of Kyoukai no Kanata, Kuriyama Mirai resigns herself to death. However, fate is not always as straightforward as it seems, and her body is found by the Occult Club. Revived as a Devil and faced with a world unlike anything she's familiar with, can this Ikkaishi adjust to her new life? First ever KnK crossover. KNK SPOILERS! AkiMira, IseHarem. No Gormim.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Time for another! This story just came to me one day and I had to write it out. Anyway, for a wonder, this story will also _not_ (gasp) contain any Gormim. At least, not directly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or Kyoukai no Kanata.

"Speech"  
><span>Text<span>  
><em>Thoughts<em>  
><strong>DemonicDraconic**  
><span><strong>SpellSacred Gear/[Boosted Gear/Divine Dividing]**

Chapter 1- Life 0.5: Devil World

(1st Person POV)

Death.

In the dictionary, it is defined as 'the cessation of one's life processes.'

Having lived as an Ikkaishi (Spirit World Warrior), I, Kuriyama Mirai, am familiar with death. It is an unfair thing, and cruel.

I was the last of the Kuriyama clan, the last to carry their cursed ability to manipulate blood. While I was spared from their eradication, I wished only that I had never been born. These feelings greatly increased on the day that I killed my best friend, Inami Yui, with my own hands.

If not for Nase Izumi, I probably would have died for that. I was spared death again, but this time it was for a reason. Izumi-san needed my abilities, my cursed blood, to slay a particularly powerful Youmu: Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary). I was told that it took the form of a half-Youmu by the name of Kanbara Akihito, a high school student in the year above me. At first, I thought getting close enough to kill it would be difficult, but then I learned…

Getting close was no problem. Actually killing the Kyoukai no Kanata was, however, almost impossible. Akihito-senpai was immortal, and all of my subsequent attempts to end his life were met with failure. It was not enough to make me despair, but my senpai's obsession with glasses (as well as the fact that I looked good in them apparently) was definitely unpleasant.

Later, a rather powerful Youmu known as the Hollow Shadow came into town. That Youmu…was the reason that Yui died. No matter what my mission was, I had to go out and kill it.

In the end, the Hollow Shadow possessed Senpai, and I was able to slay it. But then, because of the damage I inflicted on him in the process Senpai's Youmu half, Kyoukai no Kanata, was unleashed. For the first time, I truly saw what I had been ordered to kill; a monster that could destroy the whole world if left unchecked.

But at the same time, I…I saw that Senpai was just like me. Feared and shunned for all of our lives because of abilities no one else had. I could not bring myself to kill him. At that time, I realized that I was in love with Kanbara Akihito.

I was chastised afterwards, of course, and my Ikkaishi license was suspended for a month, but that didn't matter too much. I was able to scrape by.

A few weeks after that, an event known as the Calm occurred. It was a time when all Youmu would become weaker, allowing lesser Ikkaishi to make a name for themselves by killing them.

During the Calm, Nase Izumi used her abilities to suppress Senpai's human half, releasing Kyoukai no Kanata and forcing me to take action.

However, rather than killing the person I loved, I used every last drop of blood in my body to draw the Youmu out of his body. I ceased to exist, but then, I found myself in a strange parallel world. A strange, mirrored sphere hung in the sky, trying relentlessly to kill me for a long time. But just when I was about to kill it once and for all, to my horror, Senpai appeared once again. He angrily told me off, claiming that he never wanted the 'normal' life that I'd given him if it meant I died. I couldn't say it at the time, but such an unpleasant statement was…something I'd always wanted to hear.

Eventually, we figured out how to defeat Kyoukai no Kanata, and Senpai absorbed it back into his body, making him immortal again.

(3rd Person POV)

Kanbara Akihito, a blond young man with brown eyes, fell to his knees and then to all fours, panting. Several feet behind him stood Kuriyama Mirai, a petite, slender girl with a pair of gray thick-rimmed glasses perched on her small nose, over which she peered concernedly at him.

Tentatively she took a step forward, only to stop.

*crack*

A small sound of cracking glass made her look down. A faint, glowing crack ran across her leg. She sighed and stopped moving. "Senpai?" she called, "Could you come over here, please?"

"Hm?" Blinking, he looked around, then stood up. As he walked over to the girl he asked, "What is it?"

"Um…" her eyes flicked around distractedly, "Er, well, I…I have a request."

He raised his eyebrows. "A request?" he repeated.

"Y-yes. Please hold out your hand."

Somewhat confused, he held it out. Slowly, Mirai took it gently in her own, much smaller hands and placed it on top of her head. "Pat me on the head."

"Eh?"

"I want you to pat me on the head," she clarified, still not looking him in the eye.

Akihito stared at the bespectacled beauty for a second, then smiled slightly. Slowly, he stroked the top of her head, petting her soft, fluffy hair. "You know, after your glasses, I think I like this part of you the most," he said absently.

"Fuhi…"

"Fuhi?" he asked, taken aback.

Realizing that the sound had come out unbidden, the girl started giggling for real, but after a moment said, "Now, please say 'thank you.'"

"Thank you," he said, smiling.

"Say it like you mean it!" she said a little impatiently.

Chuckling for a second, Akihito's smile turned warmer. "Thank you," he repeated softly.

*crunch*

Startled, the blond glanced down and gasped. Mirai's left leg was splintering into fragments, growing unstable.

"Hehe…hehehe." Now her laughter was becoming increasingly choked and pained. Tears welled in the corners of her brown eyes, even as a smile grew on her mouth. "So happy…" she whispered, suddenly hoarse, "I'm so happy."

"Kuriyama-san!"

Her legs started to come apart, the left one shattering into glowing pink fragments, while the rest of her remained suspended in the air. "I'm so happy…I'm so happy!" she repeated, the particles sparkling all around her.

"K-Kuriyama-san, your legs are-!" Akihito whispered.

She smiled at her companion's horrorstricken face. "Senpai…Kyoukai no Kanata has gone back into your body, so this place will probably disappear soon." She smiled lightly. "And I will probably disappear along with it."

He gasped.

"Now that it's gone, I won't be able to exist. The real me is long gone, after all."

He made a small, choked noise of frustration, tears in his eyes.

"I'm truly glad to have met you."

"Stop it!" he burst out.

The tears streamed faster down her face, but still she smiled and continued, "I'm truly glad that I fell in love with you-"

"Stop! Don't say it!" he screamed desperately.

Again she ignored him, took a breath and whispered, "Thank you…so much!"

Angrily, Akihito grabbed at her hand, only for it to disintegrate in his grip. "Kuriyama-san! Hang on! No, stop!" he begged in anguish, "This can't be happening! Don't go, Kuriyama-san! _Kuriyama-san!"_

She said nothing, but drifted away in the air, dissolving into motes of light. Even as her eyes drifted closed, she couldn't block out his final, desperate scream.

"_MIRAIIIIII!"_

And then there was nothing.

...

_At that time, Kanbara Akihito and I...became separated._

...

It was cold. That was the first thing that registered to her. A deep cold, that sank into her very essence, making her feel dull.

The second thing that registered to her was that she _could_ feel at all. _Surely I'd feel nothing if I didn't exist, wouldn't I?_ she thought.

The third thing was the ground. She lay flat on her stomach, grass pressed against her cheek. She tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. She was too weak. She tried to move, tried to do _something,_ but it was as if a great hand pressed down on her, preventing her from so much as twitching. Was she even breathing? she wondered.

And still she felt cold. She wanted to shiver so badly, wanted to move, wanted even to just curl up on the ground, anything to make herself warmer. _If I'm dead,_ she thought miserably, _Then this is the cruelest hell ever. Please, someone...I don't want to die._ Unbidden, her closed eyes burned with unshed tears. _It hurts. It hurts! Why does it hurt so much, Senpai?_

"Eh?"

Asia Argento, Bishop and First Year student at Kuoh Academy, gave a small startled noise. She and her senpai, Hyoudou Issei, were both walking home from that day's club activities. Ordinarily, since she also lived with them, they would have been accompanied by their club president, Rias Gremory. However, that day she had to remain at school late in order to do some paperwork for the Occult Club, and had sent the two on ahead.

As they approached Issei's house, the blonde girl spotted something lying on the lawn in front of it. "I-Ise-san, there's someone on the lawn!" she exclaimed, pointing.

Issei, an average-looking boy with brown hair and light brown eyes, looked around and saw the person as well. "Huh?" he muttered, scratching the back of his head, "That's…a person, right?" Both of them ran over to check. Kneeling down, Issei saw that it was a girl. She lay face down on the ground, her face obscured by a mess of strawberry blonde hair. It was an odd shade of pink, too. The majority of her body was covered by a baggy pink sweater, though being who he was, Issei was able to tell that under it was a slender, petite body. Her legs were equally thin, clad in a gray pleated skirt and a pair of torn tights.

Gently, Asia shook the girl's shoulder. "Um…please wake up," she requested tentatively. The girl on the ground gave no reaction, however.

"Geez, she must be sleeping like a log," grumbled the boy, "But sleeping on her front like that can't be comfortable…" he rolled her onto her back, only to give a cry. "Oh man! She's cute!"

Indeed, her sleeping face was innocent-looking and fine-boned, with pale skin and a small nose. _Hm…seems like something's missing, though,_ he thought, frowning in contemplation, "Glasses, maybe?" he murmured.

Asia, however, noticed something more disquieting. "Ah!" she gasped, "S-she's not breathing! And," she put a hand on her face, "She's so cold. Oh no…" tears gathered in the corners of her green eyes, "I think…I think she's dead, Ise-san."

"Eh?!" Issei blanched, jerking away from the girl, "D-dead? But then, how'd she end up here…?"

The blonde girl was crying now. "How sad!" she sniffed, lifting the dead girl's upper body in her arms, "She must have died alone, with no one to say goodbye to! Oh God in Heaven, why did you leave this girl to die such a lonely- Ouch!" She grabbed her head in pain.

Issei felt sad too, but he couldn't help but sweat-drop. _You're a Devil now, so of course you'll receive damage from Praying, Asia-chan!_ he silently reminded the ex-nun.

[Later]

Eventually, they decided to move the body indoors, so as to not attract too much attention. Naturally, Issei's parents were appalled that such a young girl had died on their doorstep and immediately let the two teens lay her body down. Of course, the ensuing chaos was complicated somewhat by the arrival of their other housemate, Rias Gremory.

The red-haired, buxom Devil stood at the entrance to the living room, a shocked expression on her face as she took in the scene. Asia and Issei were both kneeling by a futon, on which lay the small form of a pink-haired girl. Rias took in Asia's tear-stained face and Issei's half solemn, half confused expression. After a long moment, she cleared her throat awkwardly, making them both look over.

"Ah, Buchou!" Issei greeted, looking relieved, "Thank goodness you're here. We have a problem…kinda."

"So I can see," she said slowly, looking at the girl, "Who is this girl?"

The Sekiryuutei shrugged. "No idea," he said, "We found her in the front yard like this a little while ago."

"She's dead, Buchou," hiccupped Asia miserably, "She wasn't breathing and was cold when we found her. If we'd found her earlier, I could've used my Twilight Healing to help her, but…" she sniffled.

Rias looked down at the body in surprise. She was quite small, almost the same size as Koneko in fact. There was a look of deep pain frozen on her face, as if she'd died slowly.

The Devil's face softened, then she suddenly turned and left the room. "Eh, Buchou?"

"I'll be right back!" she called.

Perplexed, Issei stared after her. Then his eyes locked on her swaying hips and it was no longer perplexity, but lust that made him stare.

A moment later the redhead reappeared, carrying a small wooden box. "Good thing I brought these with me when I moved in," she said, "Otherwise it would've been such a bother."

"Buchou, what is that?" he asked.

"Hm?" she gave him a confused look, "They're my Evil Pieces of course."

Asia looked up, surprised. "Your…your Evil Pieces. B-Buchou, you mean-?"

Rias sighed and knelt beside the prone girl. "Yes. I'm going to reincarnate this person as a Devil. I assume there are no objections?"

Both of her subordinates shook their heads. "Um…but why are you doing this Buchou?" asked Issei, "I mean, we don't even know this person, so…"

"A few reasons," she said, setting down the box and opening it, "Firstly, I want to get to the bottom of what caused this person's death. Having her tell us herself will make that much easier. Secondly," Rias suddenly reached over and wiped a tear from Asia's face, "My precious Servant cried for her. That is enough for this selfish Devil." She took out two red Chess pieces, both Pawns. "And also…her face is not the one of a person who died peacefully. It's fortunate that I'll still have a Pawn left over, otherwise I might have reconsidered not doing this, though. Thanks for only taking up five, Ise. Ufufu…"

Issei only smiled, happy to be complimented by his Master. _Now, if only she'd let me touch those magnificent oppai…_

Clueless to her most perverted Servant's fantasies, Rias pressed the Evil Pieces to the chest of the dead girl. A red glow lit up the room and a magic circle opened beneath her body. **"I order, in my name Rias Gremory. You, oh nameless one who has died a lonely death. By my word, let your soul be brought back to this soil as a Devil! You, my new [Pawn], rejoice in your newfound life!"**

There was a flash of light, and the Pawn pieces vanished into her chest. Instantly the girl's eyes flew open and she gave a huge gasp, sucking in as much air as she could. They all watched, slightly nonplussed as she rolled onto her side, coughing and gasping loudly. "W-what…" she panted.

"Was…was it like this when I was reincarnated?" Asia asked Issei tentatively. He shook his head, watching the new Peerage member.

After a moment, the girl managed to get her breathing under control and looked around. She squinted at each person in turn, as if not able to see them clearly. Her body stilled. Then, without warning, she darted to her feet with a startled cry of, "Y-Youmu!"

"Eh?" said all three Devils.

"S-stay back!" she stammered, shuffling back, "Just because you have numbers doesn't mean you'll beat me so easi-wah!" Her feet caught on the blanket of the futon and she tripped spectacularly. Quickly Issei threw himself forward and managed to catch her, lowering her more slowly to the floor.

"Careful now!" chided Rias, "You just got reborn, you know. I won't be able to bring you back a second time."

The girl blinked cluelessly. "Eh? You mean…that stuff I heard just now was you?"

Rias was once again surprised. "You heard me? How on Earth…weren't you dead?"

"Dead?" Her lip quivered. "I…I suppose. It was so cold, and I couldn't move or even breath. I could still feel my body, though."

"How horrible!" cried Asia, throwing her arms around her, "It's okay now, miss. You're alive now!"

The girl squawked in surprise at the sudden embrace. "Ah, no, s-stop! It's unpleasant!"

"Ah, sorry." Asia retreated, a little disappointed.

"Now, now, no need to be rude," chuckled Rias, "Asia's just happy to see that you're okay. Although," her blue-green eyes gained a more focused look, "We're still waiting to hear the name of the newest member of my Peerage."

The girl furrowed her brow. "Peerage?" she asked. But then she shook her head and said, "Ah, my name is Kuriyama Mirai. Yoroshiku."

Smiling widely, the redhead nodded at the shorter girl. "It's very nice to meet you, Mirai-chan. I am Rias Gremory. These two," she indicated the others, "Are Asia Argento and Hyoudou Issei, though we just call him Ise."

"Nice to meet you," said Mirai automatically. Then she remembered what she'd said previously and said, "Hey, don't change the subject! What's a Peerage and how come I'm in a house with three Youmu?"

Asia raised a hand tentatively. "Um, everyone?" she said shyly, as if ashamed to be asking such a question, "What's a…Youmu?"

The strawberry blonde girl looked at her incredulously. "…What?" she asked flatly. "How can you not know what Youmu are? You're a Youmu, I can sense it!"

"I assure you, that assumption is wrong," said Rias sharply, frowning at her newest Servant, "And you still haven't answered the question."

Mirai stared around at them, apparently stunned. Finally, she began, "Youmu are the manifestation of mankind's darkest feelings. They're what most people would call ghosts and often cause trouble wherever they go. The ones who combat them are Ikkaishi."

"Spirit World Warriors?" asked Asia slowly, "Are those…like Exorcists?"

Seeing the confusion on the girl's face, Rias decided to step in again. "Either way, we're definitely not these Youmu you speak of," she said definitively, "We're Devils. And now, so are you."

"Heh?" Besides that one small utterance of confusion, the tiny Ikkaishi fell completely silent, staring at Rias uncomprehendingly. "I'm a…I'm a…?"

"A Devil, yes," Rias confirmed, "That's how we brought you back to life after all."

Mirai blinked once, twice as the color drained slowly from her face. Finally, she said weakly, "Fuyukai desu," and slumped to the floor in a faint.

There was a moment of silence. "Er...whoops," said the redhead sheepishly, "I guess I said too much too quickly."

[Some time later]

Mirai stirred as she slowly came to. Unlike her experience with death, she found her body swaddled in warmth. Sighing contentedly, she burrowed her face into the pillow, only dimly registering how odd it felt. Rather than cloth, her nose rubbed against something smoother and firmer. Whatever it was, it was warm so with a mumble, she nuzzled the object.

"Mmn..." a moan sounded in her ear, and a pair of arms drew her closer to the object. Her eyes flew open in shock.

For all of her skill in slaying Youmu, Kuriyama Mirai was unfortunately cursed with nearsightedness. After all, that's why she wore the glasses that Akihito loved so much. However, given how close she was, it was impossible to mistake the sight before her. Her face was being squeezed against a naked pair of the largest breasts she'd ever seen. She could make out the details of the fair skin with absolute clarity at that distance. Some people would consider themselves blessed to witness such a sight. Unfortunately, Mirai was straight, so she could not really appreciate it. Gulping, she looked up and saw the face of another girl. In fact, it was the red-haired girl from earlier, the one who'd claimed to have turn Mirai into a Devil.

Suddenly, the girl opened her eyes, which were a bold blue-green color. Blinking blearily, she looked down at Mirai, then smiled. "Ah, you're awake, Mirai-chan." She gently stroked the Ikkaishi's hair. "Did you sleep well?"

The other members of the Hyoudou residence all jumped as a high pitched scream suddenly rang out from the spare bedroom.

"UWAAAAH!"

Quickly, both Issei and Asia ran upstairs, hearts pounding from the unexpectedness of the sound. While neither of them really doubted that their Buchou could have been really harmed, it was the newcomer they were worried for.

The moment they reached the door to the guest room however, Issei stopped, blood trickling out of his nose. The reason for that, of course, was because Rias Gremory had sat up, the blanket sliding off her completely nude form. Although she faced away from them, Issei greedily drank in the sight of her graceful back, smooth skin and curved hips. In the meantime, Kuriyama Mirai had flattened herself to the back wall, covering her eyes with an arm and looking absolutely mortified.

"What's wrong, Kuriyama?" asked Rias.

"What's wrong is that you're naked!" the strawberry blonde girl exclaimed, "More importantly, why are you in bed with me?!"

The Devil blinked at the question, then chuckled. "Fufufu, my apologies for startling you, then. You fainted so suddenly I got worried. After all, bringing a person back from the dead is not something to be done lightly. I had to make sure your Demonic energy stabilized."

"A...ah." Slowly, Mirai relaxed, peeling herself off the wall, "Is that why you're n-naked, then?"

"Oh, no, I just prefer sleeping this way." Rias laughed at the horrified, bug-eyed look on the girl's face. "You make a good hugging-pillow, by the way."

Mirai slid down the wall, red-faced and moaning, "Fuyukai desu..."

Chuckling at the younger girl's embarrassment, the red-head looked around and noticed her two other Peerage members. "Ah, Asia-chan, Ise-kun. Could you give the others a call and have them come over? We need to introduce Mirai-chan, as well as explain things to her."

"R-right!" said Asia, though she too was blushing at her King's state of undress.

Issei, on the other hand, was too busy blatantly ogling her naked breasts to notice what had been asked of him. "Boobs," he muttered, a goofy look on his face.

"Come on, Ise-san!" The ex-nun tugged on the boy's arm, dragging him out of the room.

Having been left alone, Rias turned back to Mirai, who was looking rather overwhelmed. At this point, she noticed that the younger girl's clothes were quite dirty and her tights were still torn. "Why don't we get you some new clothes?"

Mirai's only response was to mutter, "Gulp."

Despite herself, the redhead sweatdropped at the verbal sound effect.

A few minutes later, Mirai was back in the living room sitting on the couch. She fidgeted uncomfortably in the peach-colored set of pajamas Rias had given her. It was not that the clothes themselves were uncomfortable, but rather the fact that, sitting out the open in an unfamiliar house full of unfamiliar people, she felt decidedly exposed. Maybe even a little vulnerable.

"Ara ara, and who is this?" asked a melodious, sultry voice. Mirai jumped and looked around. Standing in the doorway was a tall, dark-haired girl with violet eyes. She wore the same outfit that Rias had worn earlier, some sort of school outfit. From the top of her head extended two long antennae hairs, which drooped under their own weight. The same, however, could not be said for her breasts, which looked to be even larger than the redhead's, if that were possible.

Frowning, Mirai looked down at her own flat chest, feeling a twinge of jealousy.

Seeing the look and correctly interpreting it, the girl gave a laugh. "Fufufu. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll grow up well yourself. My name is Himejima Akeno."

"Ah," started Mirai, blushing at the comment, "I'm...Kuriyama Mirai. N-nice to meet you."

Akeno's face softened and she smiled. "Ise-kun was right, you really are cute. Haah, if I were into girls I'd definitely want to play with you a bit~!"

The pink-haired girl gave a strangled squeak at the suddenly predatory air around the older girl.

"...Akeno-senpai." A girl with short white hair, even tinier than Mirai herself, prodded Akeno in the back, "Don't tease."

"Ara, sorry Koneko-chan."

Koneko did not reply and walked up to Mirai. "...Toujou Koneko. Yoroshiku."

Again, Mirai reciprocated the greeting.

"Heeh~, another Peerage member already?" this time a blond-haired boy with a mole under his right eye entered the room. He smiled warmly at the increasingly flustered girl. "Nice to meet you! I'm Yuuto Kiba."

"Um, thanks," Mirai mumbled, "But why are all of you-?"

"I felt you should be introduced to everyone first." Rias had entered this time, along with Issei and Asia. "You'll be working with us from now on, so it's best to start the explanations here."

A wary frown creased the pink-haired girl's somewhat child-like face. "'From now on?'" She did not necessarily like the sound of that.

As if sensing that she should approach the conversation with caution, Rias started slowly. "According to Issei, you were found dead on his front lawn when he and Asia came home from school."

"O-on the front lawn?! How unpleasant," Mirai muttered to herself.

"Asia was quite upset, you know," Rias told her with a hint of admonishment, "Finding such a young girl like yourself dead as a doornail at your age. She cried over you, even, kind soul that she is."

Mirai looked at the blonde, who was blushing, with no small amount of surprise. She'd never even met the girl before, but to be moved to tears over her dead body... despite herself, Mirai couldn't help but feel a small amount of warmth bloom in her chest.

The redhead continued, this time in a softer voice, "And when I saw your body, I thought, 'this girl looks so unhappy. How could she have died, to make her look so sad.' So I decided to bring you back to life, both for Asia's sake and yours. You've been given a second chance at life."

"A second...chance?" she repeated under her breath, looking at Rias incredulously from under her bangs. Mirai could not help but feel bewildered. This person, Rias, apparently had the power to bring people back to life, and she'd used it on _her?_ For such flimsy reasons too! _But,_ she thought, _As long as I'm alive now...maybe I'll be able to meet Senpai again._ Distantly, she remembered the words that had been said before she returned to full consciousness/life.

_**"You, my new [Pawn], rejoice in your newfound life!"**_

She bowed her head. _Whoever Rias Gremory is,_ she thought, _I only hope this bodes well for me._ So thinking and without raising her head, she whispered, "Thank you."

A shifting in the couch cushions next to her made her look up. Rias had crossed the room and sat down next to her, smiling tentatively. "Even though our meeting was rather abrupt...I hope we can work together and get to know each other well, Kuriyama Mirai."

Mirai couldn't help but blush. "O-okay," she muttered. Suddenly, she giggled, surprising the others. "S-sorry, I was remembering something my Senpai once said."

"What's that?"

"Ah, I think it was something like..." She put on a slightly deeper voice, trying to imitate a male one, "'If that one time were the extent of our relationship, there would be no need for stories in this world.'"

"Ara ara," chuckled Akeno, "How poetic. Now, why don't we hear your own story?"

The strawberry-blonde paused for a moment. Absently, her hand drifted to her temple and she tried to push up her glasses, only to realize she wasn't wearing any. She frowned. "Well...if I must."

AN: Aaand I think I'll leave it there. This marks the beginning of my newest fic, CoG: Boundary of Dragon. Now, I probably won't focus on updating this one too often. It'll mostly be platonic fluff between Mirai and the Occult Club members, with some action of course. After all, despite her fluffy and cuddly appearance, Mirai can kick a serious amount of ass.

Summary time:  
>1. My chapter titles will be a fusion of DxD chapter titles (Life ##) and KnK episode titles (a color, or _ World).<br>2. A brief summary of Kyoukai no Kanata, told from the point of view of Kuriyama Mirai. Spoilers abound, yo.  
>3. My rendition of Mirai's disappearance. The only major difference is that Akihito (poor bastard) calls out to Mirai by her first name at the end.<br>4. Mirai somehow ends up in DxD-verse. How she ended up there may or may not be eventually explained.  
>5. Also, while it may not be clear, Mirai <em>was<em> dead. However, she still maintained a level of consciousness. Before any of you can call bullshit on that, I'd like to remind you that no one's ever really said what it's like to die. So, just call that artistic license.  
>6. She bears the appearance that she had when she faced down Youmu-Akihito. At that time, she took off her glasses before delivering the final blow. The ones she was wearing afterward were created by the KnK illusionary world.<br>7. Asia and Issei find Mirai's body on his lawn. Awkward.  
>8. Come on, you know Asia would cry over a total stranger.<br>9. Issei knows that now is not the time to perv. He still notices that Mirai _is_ pretty cute. Plus that she lacks a certain something (*coughglassescough*).  
>10. Rias comes in after the others. After taking a look at the situation, she goes for her Evil Pieces. Yeah, yeah, it might seem a little quick, but I can honestly see Rias doing something like that.<br>11. In this fic, Issei only took up five Pawn pieces. Mirai takes up two more. Guess who's gonna get the last one? :P  
>12. Upon awakening fully, Mirai is instantly on guard as she mistakes Rias and the other for Youmu. Her clumsiness quickly puts a stop to her bravado, though.<br>13. She gives the textbook answer (to her) of what a Youmu is, and hasn't quite picked up on the fact that she's not in Kansas anymore.  
>14. For those not in the know, 'Fuyukai desu' is Mirai's catchphrase. It literally means 'howit's unpleasant.' As such, when she says it by itself I will use the Japanese form, and if used in a sentence I'll use the English.  
>15. My head-canon is that Rias falls under Bi the Way when it comes to members of her Peerage. Although, I imagine she's a tad more intimate with Issei than Kiba, for obvious reasons.<br>16. Mirai is of course horrified to wake up with a naked girl, seeing as she's _not_ bi.  
>17. In short order she is introduced to the other members of the Peerage.<br>18. Koneko _is_ in fact shorter than Mirai. Three inches shorter, in fact. Mirai is 4' 9" while Koneko is 4' 6".  
>19. Rias, having learned her mistake from before, starts off her explanation more gently.<br>20. I end off with one of the book-ends of KnK, before Mirai starts to relate her story.

Also to note: Mirai currently lacks her Power Limiting ring. When she disappeared, that's all that remained of her. It is currently in Akihito's possession.

Well, I hope you enjoy this, because I sure as hell did. This is, incidentally, the first ever crossover of Kyoukai no Kanata. Consider it a reverse-birthday present to you all, as I am now 20 years old as of 2 hours ago! By Japanese standards, I am an adult now. Sure don't feel like it though.

Anyways, I'll hopefully get back to writing my normal fics soon. See you next update!

North South out.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Since I seem unable to write anything else, I thought I'd get started on the next chapter of this. Frankly, though, I'm still rather disappointed that I've only gotten _7_ reviews for the first chapter of the first KnK crossover ever. For shame, you lot! Anyway...let's hope you'll read this one, at least...

Sam: I'm honored you found my crossover unusual enough for your tastes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or Kyoukai no Kanata.

"Speech"  
><span>Text<span>  
><em>Thoughts<br>__Inner Being to Outer Being/[Ddraige/Albion]  
><em>**Demonic/Draconic**  
><span><strong>SpellTechnique/[Boosted Gear/Divine Dividing]**

Chapter 2- Life 1: Uniform Pink

It did not take too long for Mirai to share her story. She told them about how Ikkaishi fought Youmu in order to protect the unaware humans. Briefly, she mentioned that her own family had been powerful Ikkaishi themselves, but did not go into detail about their fate. She explained that she had been brought to a certain town because of her power, in order to put down a Youmu known as Kyoukai no Kanata, which had taken on the form of a high school boy.

"Hm," mused Rias, "So these Youmu can look like anything?"

"They usually have only one form," the strawberry blonde clarified, "But some are intelligent enough to have a human form. In fact, the Youmu Appraiser at that town was a Youmu herself."

"Youmu Appraiser?" asked Asia.

Mirai gave a start and realized she'd left out a detail. "Ah, killing a Youmu causes them to leave behind a gemstone. A Youmu Appraiser can tell you how much it's worth, and then you can sell it."

Rias looked impressed. "Hoh. What a novel way of earning money! You must have gotten quite a bit, no?"

"Ah…" Mirai ducked her head, blushing slightly, "N-not really. A Youmu's stone goes up in quality the more powerful it is. The quality determines how much it's worth."

Smiling, Akeno raised a hand, as if addressing a teacher. "Isn't it counterproductive to have a Youmu Appraiser be a Youmu themselves?"

Having expected this question at some point, Mirai said, "I can understand why you'd say that. In fact, I thought so when I met Ayaka-san, but she's licensed by the Society of Spirit World Warriors, so it's fine. Besides which, her daughter told me it's like how humans deal in cattle."

Kiba nodded thoughtfully at that. _So even among spirits, there are drastic enough differences._

"But as for earning a lot of money," she continued, "Well…" a shifty look came across her face and her hands unconsciously made a strange gesture. Rias recognized it as trying to clean a pair of glasses. Probably a nervous habit that made it very easy to spot a lie, she thought.

"Yes?"

"The first Youmu I ever killed was worth…one thousand yen," admitted Mirai sullenly.

Unwittingly, Issei gave a choked snort at the number. "Something funny, Ise-kun?" asked Rias.

He flinched. "Ah…well, one thousand yen is…" he said carefully.

"…Cheap change," stated Koneko bluntly.

Mirai drooped at that admission. "All that work, for so little," she mumbled, "Stupid Youmu."

"…Why'd you hunt it, then?" the white-haired girl asked.

In response, the Ikkaishi once again gained a shifty look, and her hands went through the motion of cleaning her absent glasses. "N-n-no reason!" she lied, "I mean, it's not l-like it was ha-haunting my apartment or anything!"

Akeno hid her mirthful smile behind a hand, while Rias giggled. "So, a house-pest of a Youmu doesn't earn too much." She frowned. "Then what does?"

The atmosphere suddenly became a little more tense as Mirai's face went blank. "There are too many to tell," she said finally, "Some can be smaller than a cat, but worth ten thousand yen. Others," her eyebrow twitched, "Can be worth about a million, if only because you can't get near it without it exploding in a torrent of…of…" She shuddered and ducked her head. "Uwaah, I can't even think about it! It stinks so much!"

Sympathetically Koneko patted her on the back. "…Happens to everyone," the white-haired girl assured her in her usual monotone.

Everyone shuddered at various memories of contracts or Stray Devils that had involved foul stenches. Even Issei looked a bit green as he remembered his first encounter with the mad Exorcist Freed. Asia was the only one who looked confused. "Um…so, what about that Kyoukai no Kanata? How much is it worth?"

Mirai opened her mouth to answer, but paused. "I don't know," was her answer after a few moments, "I died in battle with it, so I never got to appraise it." In light of the shock this statement caused, no one noticed the slow glasses-cleaning motion her hands were making.

"That's how you died?" asked Kiba, "That's terrible. Does that mean that Kyoukai no Kanata is still out there?"

"Probably." Rather than grimness or anger, the Gremory Knight saw a look of sadness on the pink-haired girl's face.

"Will you want revenge on it?" Rias asked seriously. It wouldn't do to have another revenge-obsessed Peerage member; Kiba was already enough.

But to their surprise Mirai shook her head. "No," she said, "Even if I wanted to, I don't think that's possible at this point."

Taken aback, both asked, "Why not?"

She seemed to shrink on herself and lowered her gaze, the fringe of her hair obscuring her tawny eyes. "I don't know," she said quietly, "But it just feels…different here. Like I'm in another world."

This time, Rias noticed the glasses-cleaning gesture. "Surely there's more to it than just a feeling," she pointed out, "What is it? If it might affect the Peerage, you shouldn't keep it a secret. If you have any thoughts, share them."

Mirai blinked at her, clearly startled. Then she looked back down at her knees. "…Fuyukai desu. When I died against Kyoukai no Kanata," she began, "It wasn't just death. My whole body ceased to exist."

In the shocked silence that followed, even Koneko's eyes widened.

"But wait a sec!" cried Issei, "We found your body! Outside this house, in fact. If you no longer exist, then how are you here?"

The strawberry blonde only shrugged. "There's also the fact that you called yourselves Devils," she continued, looking at Rias, "Where I'm from, devils are just figments of myth and Christian mythology."

"Fair enough," admitted the redhead, smiling easily, "Most humans believe the same. Only a select few are aware of the truth." With a snap, her own bat-like wings flared into visibility. Following her lead, the other members of the Occult Club revealed their devil wings as well, though Issei took a moment and Asia wasn't sure how to do it. "However, as I said before, we are Devils, not Youmu. In fact, by bringing you back to life, you've become a Devil yourself."

Even as Mirai gawped at them, a movement out of the corner of her eye made her look around. She let out a squeak of surprise as she caught sight of a pair of wings growing out of her back. Though she also noted, with some relief, that they didn't seem to have damaged her pajamas.

"So…what does this mean?" she asked tremulously. Once more she remembered the words that had been said before her 'rebirth.'

Rias smile widened. "You've become a member of my Peerage. Until you move up the ranks and become a High-Class Devil, you are my Servant. But most importantly…" she knelt in front of Mirai and placed a hand on her cheek, "You're part of the Gremory family, now. Even if you choose to fight alongside us, I'll definitely protect you, alright? I won't let you die again."

Mirai held her gaze for as long as possible. Ever since the 'disappearance' of the Kuriyama clan, she had never truly had a family. Aside from Yui and Sakura, the Inami family had kept her isolated. She'd never even considered her friends to be true family, despite Hiromi-senpai's insistence that she was an 'imouto in all but blood.' Given his sis-con attitude, it didn't feel like much of a compliment. And yet…

Looking into Rias's eyes, the strawberry blonde could see genuine affection and sincerity. She truly meant what she said, that they would be like family. _I want to know what that feels like,_ thought Mirai suddenly, _I want to know how a family acts and loves each other._ Her eyes burned and her sight (already fuzzy from nearsightedness) blurred even more. She tried to say 'alright,' but what came out slightly choked was, "Fuyukai desu."

Rias chuckled at the saying, and wiped a tear from her subordinate's face. "Welcome, Mirai-chan. Let's get along from now on, okay?"

Wordlessly, she nodded, blushing.

"Great!" said Rias cheerfully, standing up and walking towards the kitchen, "Akeno, if you could explain the basics to Mirai-chan, I'll go arrange her enrollment at Kuoh."

"Of course, Buchou."

"Eh?" Mirai gave a noise of confusion.

Kiba laughed and said, "Since you're part of the Peerage, you'll need to go to the same school as us. Besides, the school you went to before probably doesn't exist here."

"What year were you in?" called Rias from the kitchen.

Perplexed, Mirai mumbled that she was a first year. Koneko perked up a bit (or as much as could be considered such with her) and said, "…Me too."

"Oh good! We can put you in Koneko-chan's class."

While Mirai sat blankly on the couch, wondering what was happening, Akeno sat next to her, placing a teacup on the table. "Now then," she said, "How much do you know about Christian mythology? More specifically about the afterlife."

"Er…I know that good people go to Heaven when they die, where Angels live, and evil people go to hell, where there are Devils."

Akeno smiled ruefully. "Well, the truth is a little more complicated than that. Devils are not as evil as the Bible makes them out to be."

Behind her, Asia frowned a little at the indirect slight on her beliefs and gently patted a satchel that hung from her hip.

"You see, thousands of years ago, there was a great war fought by three major factions," the buxom Devil went on, "The side of the Angels, who fought in the name of their Christian God, the Devils, who fought under the four Maou: Lucifer, Beelzebub, Leviathan and Asmodeus, and the Fallen Angels who 'betrayed' God and formed their own side, led by their own Governor, the Viceroy Azazel. That war ended after the death of the Maou, but huge losses were suffered by all of the Factions. As such, there was a big ceasefire, and these days we live in relative peace. The Angels have little to do with earth, so for the most part the Devils and Fallen Angels have to share the underworld. We Devils have to gain power by making contracts with humans, while the Fallen Angels try to stop us."

All the while, Mirai nodded slowly, occasionally sipping her tea absently. "How did I get brought back to life?" she asked finally.

Pausing, Akeno considered whether to tell the girl. It was common practice to avoid overloading newly reincarnated devils with information, so they were often taught very slowly. However, given that this person seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride, as well as the fact that she was used to supernatural happenings, the Queen decided to go ahead. "Ah…that's a system that the current Beelzebub came up with. After the Great War, the Devil population was very low, so Ajuka Beelzebub had the idea of reincarnating other beings into new Devils."

"Like me." It wasn't a question.

"Well, yes. It's mostly humans who are turned, but it's possible to use the system on other beings."

"'System?'" Mirai parroted.

Akeno smiled. "Mm. The Evil Piece System."

"Sounds unpleasant," the pink-haired girl commented in a deadpan.

"Fufufu! I suppose it would. Anyway, Evil Pieces take on the form of Chess pieces. You are familiar with what those are, I hope?" she asked teasingly.

Slowly, Mirai nodded. "Yes. One King, one Queen, two Bishops, Knights and Rooks, and eight Pawns," she recited.

"Good," Akeno praised, "Now, each High-Class Devil is considered the King of their Peerage. Thus, Rias-buchou is our King. I'm her Queen." She turned to the other people in the room and indicated each of them. "Koneko-chan is a Rook, Kiba-kun is a Knight, Asia-chan is a Bishop and Ise-kun is a Pawn, though he used up five pieces to reincarnate. There's another member of the Peerage who's the other Bishop, but because of certain circumstances, he won't be joining us for a while."

Now the strawberry blonde girl was starting to sweat a little from the information. Then she blinked and asked, "And what piece am I, Akeno-san?"

Asia spoke up. "Um, you're a Pawn like Ise-san, but you only used two pieces."

Confused about the number, she looked at Akeno.

"Ah, each piece has a certain value. A Knight and Rook are worth three Pawns, a Bishop is worth five and the Queen is worth nine. Normally a single Pawn piece is enough to reincarnate a normal human with no special talent, but Ise-kun has an ability that made him need five." She winked at Mirai. "It seems like you've got something special yourself."

Mirai smiled weakly. She had a suspicion that she knew why she'd taken two pieces. Darkly, she glanced at her right hand, bare of any of its usual gauze and froze as she realized that something was missing. She paled.

Akeno noticed the change in demeanor quickly. "What's wrong, Mirai-chan?"

"M-my…my ring is gone."

"Ring?"

Mirai fidgeted. She wanted to keep a lid on the nature of her powers a little while longer. "It's…very important to me. I must have lost it when I died."

"Oh dear," sighed the older girl sympathetically. Her romantically inclined mind connected the dots incorrectly, causing her to come to the conclusion that the ring had come from a boyfriend. "Well, while finding it is likely impossible, I bet Buchou would get another one for you if you asked."

"Eh?!" The Ikkaishi sputtered, face reddening, "I-I can't do that! That'd be asking too much..."

Kiba chuckled. "Not really. Actually, Buchou's family is known for spoiling their servants quite a lot. Well, not that we're the type to take advantage of that, but still."

"E-even so!" Mirai said abruptly, trying to regroup mentally, "More than a ring, what I really need is-" She broke off, blushing deeper.

Rias, who had apparently finished her phone call, stood in the doorway of the kitchen, looking amused. "What is it you need, Mirai-chan?"

For a few minutes, the pink-haired girl squirmed embarrassedly. Then, quietly she said, "I...I need some glasses, since my eyesight is bad."

"Ah hah!" exclaimed Issei, making them all jump, "I knew your face was missing something! You look like the type of girl who'd look really good in glasses."

For a second, he was replaced in Mirai's mind's eye by a taller, blond young man. She snorted and looked away, muttering, "Fuyukai desu." But a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

This drew a few laughs from the others. They could tell already that they'd be hearing those words from their new member frequently.

[A few days later]

Mirai wasn't quite sure what she was meant to be doing. She was welcomed warmly at the Hyoudou residence (Issei's parents having been hypnotized to forget her death), but still felt somewhat uncomfortable. Even with her brief stint with the Inami family, the young Ikkaishi had been isolated from the rest of the inhabitants. At school, the only people she talked to had been Akihito-senpai, Mitsuki-senpai, Hiromi-senpai, Ai-chan, Sakura and Nino-san. For everyone else, it had been a life of mutual avoidance.

Here, however, everyone seemed to be going out of their way to make her feel included. Issei's parents, despite not knowing anything about Devils or the like, treated her like an extra child. His mother especially was patient with Mirai's nervousness and had offered to teach her how to cook, along with Asia. Having subsisted mostly on cheap ramen and store-bought bento for most of her life, Mirai readily agreed.

Asia herself made the strawberry blonde girl feel slightly uncomfortable. Not that she was unpleasant herself or anything; the blond girl was one of the kindest, most sincere and _naive_ people Mirai had ever met. As an Ikkaishi from a clan that had been exterminated for being too strong, she couldn't really say that she'd picked up the most optimistic personality. With someone as…pure as Asia around, Mirai felt as if she should always watch what she said, lest she soil that innocence.

Still, interacting with her wasn't that bad. The few things Mirai had to say to Asia were listened to with her full attention. Likewise, Mirai tried her best to listen to whatever Asia say.

In one instance, that had been a good thing, as the subject had turned to something called 'Sacred Gears.'

"And what are those?" she asked the blonde.

"Ah," Asia seemed slightly taken aback and rubbed her forehead, "I…haven't had to explain this to someone who didn't know before. I was the newest member in the Peerage before you, but I'll try to explain it…a Sacred Gear is a power given by the Lord." She winced and touched her head. Mirai had quickly learned that Devils were unable to speak about 'holy' subjects such as God without suffering great pain. "A human, or any being with human blood, can be born with one. There…aren't too many of them, but I don't think they're uncommon. Ise-san, Kiba-san and I each have a Sacred Gear, which is why Ise-san took up so many Pawns…I think."

_You think? Is that why, or isn't it?_ Mirai thought. But she held back from voicing the complaint. "What does a Sacred Gear do?" she asked.

Asia brightened a little at the question. "Oh, there are a lot of them! They can do some amazing things if the user is good enough." Her expression fell a little. "…And terrible things, too."

"What's your Sacred Gear?" asked Mirai.

"Ah, I have Twilight Healing. It allows me to heal anyone, regardless of whether they're human, Angel, Fallen Angel or Devil. In the past, everyone treated me and my power as a sacred thing."

Mirai gulped. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the girl's past, but asked anyway. "In the…past?"

The blonde smiled, but her green eyes showed a deep sadness. "One day, I healed a man who turned out to be a Devil. When it was discovered that my power could also heal Devils, I was labeled a heretic and cast out."

Mirai wished that she'd gone with her instincts. At the same time, she could definitely sympathize with what Asia was no doubt feeling, or had felt at the time. "I'm sorry," she said. It was a paltry answer, but it was all that needed to be said.

The ex-nun only shook her head and smiled more sincerely. "It's okay, Mirai-san. After all that I became friends with Ise-san and met Buchou-san, and I'm much happier now."

The Ikkaishi suppressed a grimace. While Issei was a somewhat decent person, she found herself quickly put off by his blatantly lustful attitude. Not even Senpai had been that bad, though the two of them would definitely get along given the chance. Fortunately, he didn't seem too interested in her, though he had once told her in no uncertain terms that he thought she was cute. A certain detail in the conversation caught her attention, drawing her back to the present. "Ah, Asia-chan."

"Yes?"

"Why does everyone call Rias-san Club President?"

Asia blinked, then smiled. "Oh, right. Um, the whole Peerage is still underage, so we all go to the same school. Rias-san wanted a reason for us to meet regularly, so she set us up as the Occult Club. She's the Club President, so she always insists that we call her that, even outside of school."

Mirai wrinkled her small nose. "Occult Club? Wouldn't that draw suspicion to you guys being Devils?"

"Ah…" The ex-nun seemed at a loss for how to answer.

"Anyway," the Ikkaishi changed the subject quickly, "What sort of Sacred Gears do Ise-senpai and Kiba-senpai have?"

Sheepishly, Asia shifted uncomfortably. "Erm, well…I-I don't know if I should…it's Ise-san's power, after all."

"What's up?" asked Issei as he walked in, "I heard my name being mentioned."

_The timing on that entrance was a bit too good,_ Mirai thought suspiciously. Outwardly, she only said, "Asia-chan was just telling me about Sacred Gears. I was wondering what you and Kiba-senpai had."

The brown-haired boy seemed slightly taken aback by the question and scratched his head. "Well, if it's just that, then mine is called Boosted Gear. Kiba has something called Sword Birth."

Mirai deadpanned at him. "Both those names sound really half-assed, Senpai."

"O-oi," Issei protested indignantly, only to quietly admit, "Well, you're not wrong…a-anyway! Boosted Gear has the power to double my strength every ten seconds."

"Eh?" she asked, slightly dismayed, "Only ten seconds?"

"What do you mean 'only?' If a battle drags out long enough, even I can get pretty strong, you know!"

"But ten seconds is a long time in a battle, Senpai! While you're waiting to power up, an enemy could get in and take you out!" she countered seriously, "That's a really inefficient power."

"Hoh?" Now Rias had joined the conversation in the living room. "You seem to know quite a lot about combat, Mirai-chan."

Mirai quickly averted her eyes, flushing slightly. "Well, you have to know what you're doing to fight Youmu, you know."

The redhead chuckled, patting the younger girl on the head. "You'll make a fine addition to the Rating Games."

"Rating Games?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Did Akeno not tell you? There are occasions where Devils and their Peerages fight each other."

"Eh?!" Mirai's eyes widened in alarm, "Fight each other? Why?"

Rias shrugged. "Mostly for entertainment. No matter how much the Peerage members hurt each other, it's pretty much impossible to get killed in a Rating Game. The Kings use it as an opportunity to show off the superiority of their Pieces. 'My Knight is fastest,' or 'my Rook is strongest.' That sort of thing."

Surprisingly enough, this explanation did little to reassure Mirai, and it showed on her face.

Perhaps Rias noticed, because she quickly said, "Well, you don't need to worry about it too much, since I'm not legally old enough to start officially enter the Rating Games. Well, we did recently fight one anyway, though the circumstances were a bit…"

She fell quiet, a complicated expression crossing her face. Issei and Asia both wore similar expressions as they clearly remembered the fight against Raiser Phenex.

This time, Mirai refrained from asking what had happened.

"Anyway," the King sighed, "We should probably give you some training anyway, if only to see what level you're at compared to other Devils. It'll probably be after you've started at Kuoh."

"A-ah." Mirai wasn't sure how she felt about starting at a new school. Fortunately it was only summer, as it had been when she'd ceased to exist, so hopefully the amount of time at school she'd missed wouldn't be too bad. From what she'd heard, Kuoh Academy was a pretty good school, formerly only for girls but recently turned co-ed. Well, that was fine. The old school had been co-ed as well.

Rias grinned a little too cheerfully. "So, now all we need is your uniform and glasses, right?"

Mirai gulped at the expression, but nodded. While the redhead could be somewhat intimidating at times, there was no denying that the motherly feeling that she gave off felt especially pleasant. "Right… Although, where am I supposed to go for those?"

"Well, the uniform should be arriving soon enough. As for the glasses, we'll just have to take a trip into town. I'm sure we'll be able to find something!"

"O-okay…"

[A few days later]

Hyoudou Issei was feeling particularly awkward. Sure, he'd walked through town on his own before (even with a girl, sometimes!), but he'd never needed to find a store that sold prescription glasses before. He kept glancing at the instructions he held in his hand, then looking around at the buildings to make sure he was in the right place. Kuriyama Mirai trailed behind him uncertainly; she too was looking around, but the lost expression on her face was for a different reason.

_This place must be different from what she's used to,_ he thought. He wanted to say something to try and calm her, but nothing came to mind. Oddly enough, he couldn't even come up any lustful thoughts for the pink-haired girl. Sure, she was cute—adorable, even—but if that was all it were, he'd be fantasizing about her like Koneko, make no mistake. It was as if there were an aura around her that simply deflected all perverted thoughts. Considering how even the kind and innocent Asia wasn't safe from the Sekiryuutei's teenage mind, this phenomenon stymied Issei.

"You alright, Kuriyama?" he asked, finally.

Mirai jerked at being addressed by name, but dragged her gaze around to fix on him. She was clearly jittery, but made a valiant effort to pretend otherwise. "Ah…yes. I'm alright, Issei-san," she replied easily.

He frowned, but shrugged. "Eh, just call me Ise. Everyone does, and we'll be seeing each other a lot at school anyway."

"Ah, that's right…well, let's get along then, Ise-senpai."

"S-Senpai?" Ise was taken aback at being addressed like that so suddenly, but his face brightened a good deal, "Yeah! Let's! Ah, here it is, good." They had found the glasses store. Quickly, they entered.

To Issei, it didn't seem all that special. The interior was brightly lit, and racks of glasses' frames in various shapes and colors lined the walls. Behind him, however, he heard a soft "Uwah…" from Mirai. "Senpai must have spent a fortune here," she muttered to herself, "How unpleasant."

"Eh?" he asked, "But I've never been here before!"

The small girl looked at him, perplexed, then grimaced. "Ah, not you, Ise-senpai. I meant my Senpai back home."

"What about him?" asked Ise.

Mirai's small nose wrinkled in distaste, though it was still cute, and said, "Senpai had a glasses fetish. One of the first things he ever said to me was a confession about that. 'A girl who looks as good in glasses as you simply should not die!' …Something like that."

"He sounds like a pervert," said Ise, both sagely and hypocritically.

She laughed, though there was a strained undertone to it. "Yes. He certainly is. What do you think, should I go for these?" She picked up a pair of frames and put them on.

"Ooh!" Issei's eyes widened in surprise, "You look really cute with those, Kuriyama!"

The strawberry blonde girl glanced away, pushing her new glasses up by the corner of their yellow frame. "Well, surely not with this color," she said hesitantly, "It's just that I like the shape..." but the reminiscent smile on her face gave away her thoughts.

Issei wasn't sure what she was thinking of, but he had the feeling he shouldn't pry.

They paid for the glasses (Mirai wincing at the amount required) and the prescription for the lenses, then left. They would return the following week to pick them up.

[A few weeks later]

Mirai fidgeted as she stood outside the classroom door, playing with the hem of her new maroon skirt. She still felt that the Kuoh girl's uniform was pretty strange looking, or at least different from her old navy blue uniform. A white shirt, along with a strange black...corset thing that went around her waist and a small black cape. Fortunately, she was still allowed to wear her tights and pink sweater.

From what the Ikkaishi understood, Rias's family had quite a bit of influence with the board of directors at the school, so it was easy enough to have her enrolled with little to no questions asked. The fact that the girl had no actual record prior to coming to Kuoh was of no consequence.

"You can come in!" Mirai jerked as she realized that she'd been lost in thought. Quickly, she smoothed out her skirt, opened the door and entered. The teacher beckoned her forward and presented her to the rest of the class. "Today we will be having a new student. Please, introduce yourself," the teacher instructed her.

Nervously, she clasped her hands in front of her. "My...my name is Kuriyama Mirai," she bowed, "Please take care of me."

There was a brief moment of silence. Then...

"Oooh!" There was an uproar from the boys.

"She's so cute, especially with those glasses!"

"No way! Another loli in our class?!"

"No one can replace Koneko-chan, though…"

Mirai kept her expression the same, but her eyebrow twitched. She caught Koneko's eye, and the white-haired girl shrugged as if to say 'what can you do.' From the look on her face (or what counted as one), it seemed that such behavior was not unusual.

"Fuyukai desu!"

AN: I'll just leave it here for now. This is Chapter 2 of Boundary of Dragon. Hope you enjoy it.

Summary Notes:  
>1. Slight explanation from Mirai about what Youmu are and what an Ikkaishi does.<br>2. Ikkaishi make money by killing Youmu and selling the stones/gems left behind.  
>3. She still doesn't tell them that Akihito had the Kyoukai no Kanata. She still doesn't have a reason to trust them that much.<br>4. Mirai mentions how she died, but that she's not interested in revenge like Kiba.  
>5. Evil Piece explanation from Akeno. Just what they are, though, nothing about their abilities yet.<br>6. Mirai finally notices that her ring is missing. Given the comments about the Gremory Devils spoiling their servants, I don't doubt that Rias would get her a new one, but Mirai's too awkward to ask for it.  
>7. Bit of a timeskip, showing how Mirai interacts with certain others, mostly Asia.<br>8. She learns what Sacred Gears are, as well as Asia's backstory.  
>9. The way I see it, while her past might be a painful one, I believe that Asia is a strong enough person that she doesn't feel too bad about it.<br>10. Mirai's pessimism causes her to identify and point out the weakness in Issei's Boosted Gear. By the way, keep in mind that unlike most authors, I actually like Issei.  
>11. Issei gets relegated to taking Mirai glasses shopping. Let's just pretend that they issued a prescription some time before that.<br>12. And at the end Mirai enters class at Kuoh, which is the same as Koneko's.


End file.
